Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=John+016

 

 

John 16 English Standard Version (ESV)

⁴ But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. ⁵ But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’⁶ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. ⁷ Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;¹⁰ concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; ¹¹ concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

¹² “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵ All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

 

REFLECTION

Read over this passage a few times slowly. If time allows, read the whole chapter.

Jesus’ disciples were filled with grief at the thought of losing Jesus. Jesus explained that His departure was for their benefit. Christ left, but sent the Holy Spirit, who is a living presence within every believer.

The mission of the Holy Spirit is to guide believers into “all truth”. His mission is to help us experience reality: to know Jesus as He is, to live a life in accord with true holiness, and to build relationships rooted in real love. When we are eager to know Jesus and please Him, the Holy Spirit will surely guide us nearer and nearer to our Lord. We will know God’s truth, and our experience of that truth will set us free (8:32).

 

PRAYER

Thank the Holy Spirit for guiding you to live out the Christ-like life daily.

 

Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=John+015

 

 

John 15 English Standard Version (ESV)

I Am the True Vine

¹ “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.⁹ As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹ These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

¹² “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. ¹⁷ These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

 

REFLECTION

Read over this passage a few times slowly. If time allows, read the whole chapter.

Jesus’ disciples are branches, He is the vine. As we remain in Him, we produce fruit. A branch draws its nutrients from the vine. In the same way we draw the spiritual vitality from Jesus in order for us to produce fruit. Thus Jesus says clearly, “for apart from me you can do nothing.” (v5)

For the branches to bear more fruits, the gardener needs to prune his vine regularly. The great Gardener, our heavenly Father, works with extreme care to prune His vines. We’re assured that God, the gardener, actively tending His vineyard, is fully committed to bring us to maximum fruitfulness. God’s pruning work benefits us, it doesn’t threaten us.

Remain in the Lord and thank Him for the necessary pruning in order for you to be fruitful.

 

Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=John+014

 

 

John 14 English Standard Version (ESV)

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

¹⁵ “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, ¹⁷ even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

¹⁸ “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”²² Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” ²³ Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. ²⁴ Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

²⁵ “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. ²⁶ But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. ²⁸ You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. ²⁹ And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. ³⁰ I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, ³¹ but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

 

REFLECTION

Read over this passage a few times slowly. If time allows, read the whole chapter.

Ask the Holy Spirit’s guidance for today’s devotion. Make the reading a prayer in itself.

The Holy Spirit is the most neglected personhood of God. Yet Jesus promises to leave His disciples (and us as His followers) with this important Friend. What do you learn about the Holy Spirit in vv16-17, and 25-27?

What does it mean to have the Holy Spirit in you and to guide you throughout your day, as this passage says: “But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you”? Is it comforting? Discomforting? Frustrating? Hard to understand? Awesome? How can you grow today in the awareness that the Friend lives in you?

As you drive, walk, work, study, and interact with others today, call on your Friend for His guidance with your thoughts, your words, and the decisions you make.

 

Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=John+013

 

 

John 13 English Standard Version (ESV)

Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

¹ Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. ² During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, ³ Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, ⁴ rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. ⁵ Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. ⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” ⁷ Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” ⁸ Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” ⁹ Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹² When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? ¹³ You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. ¹⁴ If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. ¹⁶ Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. ¹⁸ I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ ¹⁹ I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. ²⁰ Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”

 

REFLECTION

Read over this passage a few times slowly. If time allows, read the whole chapter.

In the Last supper, Jesus acted out a lesson in servitude. Jesus also shows us the spirit He expects in those who follow Him. Greatness in Christ’s eyes does not come from having many servants but from being the servant of many.

In your early spiritual life, who was one of the people that demonstrated to you what it means to “wash feet”?

How will you put Jesus’ teaching into practice in at least one relationship this week at home, work, or church?

Ask God to give you a humble spirit.

 

Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=John+012

 

 

John 12 English Standard Version (ESV)

Some Greeks Seek Jesus

²⁰ Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. ²¹ So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³ And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.²⁵ Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up

²⁷ “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”²⁹ The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”³⁰ Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. ³¹ Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. ³² And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” ³³ He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. ³⁴ So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” ³⁵ So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶ While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”

 

REFLECTION

Read over this passage a few times slowly. If time allows, read the whole chapter.

Jesus realized it is time for Him to make the final sacrifice. He went on to explain why He was willing to face death.  Just as a seed will never become a plant unless it “dies” and is “buried” so the death and burial of Jesus is necessary to His glorification. Before there can be resurrection power and fruitfulness, there must be death.

We are called by Jesus to hate (disregard) our life in the sense that we freely give it up for God. We are to disregard our life in this world, seeing instead that we are mere pilgrims and sojourners, with our home in heaven instead of earth (Hebrews 11:13-16).

If we are Christians, we must follow Jesus in this path of others-centered and heaven-centered living. This path will lead us to the way of the cross, but it will also take us to the resurrection glory of the empty tomb.

In your own life are you more interested in earthly acclaim and glory or are you willing to lose your life for Christ’s sake? Examine your direction and life goals in the light of Jesus’ commitment to do the will of the Father.

Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=John+011

 

 

John 11 English Standard Version (ESV)

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷ Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸ Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, ¹⁹ and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.²⁰ So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” ²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴ Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Jesus Weeps

²⁸ When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹ And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³² Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. ³⁴ And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus wept. ³⁶ So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

 

REFLECTION

Read over this passage a few times slowly. If time allows, read the whole chapter.

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Mary’s words express faith, and perhaps reproach. Jesus should have been there for His friend Lazarus. But He wasn’t. And Lazarus died.

If we look back over our lives, we can all identify times when God could have intervened for us, but did not. He could have changed things. Yet for some reason we can’t understand, He did not. At such times it’s likely that we too mix a measure of faith with a measure of reproach.

Have you had similar thought like Mary’s? What was your complaint or accusation of the Lord?

 

Use this song as your prayer:

WHEN I CRY by Marshall Hall and Ben Gaither: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kKQBqYkhN8

Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=John+010

 

 

John 10 English Standard Version (ESV)

I Am the Good Shepherd

¹ “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. ² But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. ⁵ A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” ⁶ This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

⁷ So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. ⁸ All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. ¹¹ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³ He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.¹⁴ I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. ¹⁷ For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

¹⁹ There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. ²⁰ Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” ²¹ Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

 

REFLECTION

Read over this passage a few times slowly. If time allows, read the whole chapter.

The “good shepherd” is a unique designation, for it emphasizes the willingness of the shepherd to die for his sheep. A “hired man” – here Jesus refers to Israel’s religious leaders – will care for the sheep only so long as it is profitable or safe. The good shepherd who values the sheep for themselves will lay down his life for them. In fact, it is in this, the laying down of his life, that the goodness of the shepherd is established.

If it seems foolish to think of a man being willing to die for mere animals, however great his affection for them, remember this. There is a far greater gap between God and human beings than there is between human beings and sheep! The amazing goodness of God is fully displayed in this awesome wonder: Jesus loved us enough to lay down His life for us.

Have you ever felt like a little lost sheep, alone and frightened in a dark and hostile world? Remember the Good Shepherd. You can know He loves you because He laid down His life for you. He who loved you this much will never desert you. In Jesus, you are never, never alone.

What usually prompts you to have doubts about your salvation or your walk with Christ? —Your own sin? Feelings of unworthiness? Personal failures? Talk honestly with Christ about your doubts.

 

Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=John+009

 

 

John 9 English Standard Version (ESV)

¹³ They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. ¹⁴ Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ¹⁵ So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. ¹⁷ So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

¹⁸ The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight ¹⁹ and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” ²⁰ His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. ²¹ But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” ²² (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) ²³ Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

²⁴ So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” ²⁵ He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

 

REFLECTION

Read over this passage a few times slowly. If time allows, read the whole chapter.

The stunned neighbors brought the now-sighted man to the Pharisees in hopes of an explanation. These men were regarded as religious experts. Perhaps they could explain what had happened.

The Pharisees tried so hard to ignore Jesus and discredit the blind man’s story. But every time the man responded with a truth so obvious that the foolishness of the Pharisees’ position was exposed.

“WE KNOW this man (Jesus) is a sinner” (v24), the Pharisees announced. The blind man just shrugged and refused to be drawn into that kind of argument and replied, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”(v25)

The Pharisees could say whatever they wanted about Jesus. But they had to face the fact that Jesus gave sight to a man born blind.

Today too, people can pass any judgment on Jesus. But if they are honest they have to face the fact that millions testify to Jesus’ transforming work in their lives. John Newton, once a slave trader, experienced a transformation and wrote this hymn:

“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me….
I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now, I see.
T’was Grace that taught… my heart to fear. And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear… the hour I first believed.

Sing softly this hymn and reflect on your life before and after encountering God’s grace. Use this hymn as your thanksgiving to God for His wonderful transforming “work in progress” in you.

 

Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=John+008

 

 

John 8 English Standard Version (ESV)

The Woman Caught in Adultery

^7:53 They went each to his own house,

¹ but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ² Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. ³ The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst ⁴ they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.⁵ Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” ⁶ This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.⁷ And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. ¹⁰ Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” ¹¹ She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

 

REFLECTION

Read over this passage a few times slowly. If time allows, read the whole chapter.

Imagine yourself in the crowd that day. Picture the embarrassed and shamed expression on the woman’s face. Hear the condescending voices of the religious leaders. Feel the dirt blowing against you as Jesus bends down and writes something in it.

What’s stunning in this incident is Jesus’ reaction to the accusations brought by the teachers of the Law and Pharisees. As one who was without sin, and who had been appointed by the Father to judge humankind (5:22), Jesus refused to condemn the woman despite her guilt.

Come honestly before God and ask the Spirit to reveal to you the sins you’ve engaged in recently. Then imagine yourself in the same situation as this woman. You’re caught in this sin, exposed. Imagine you and Jesus having the same conversation: “Does no one condemn you?” “No one, Master.” He looks you in the eye. “Neither do I. Go on your way. From now on don’t sin.”

Jesus’ words echoes John’s words in 3:17. Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. And that salvation involves more than forgiveness. It involves a change of life: a change reflected in Christ’s words, “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

What are you feeling? Thinking?

 

Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=John+007

 

 

John 7 English Standard Version (ESV)

³¹ Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”

Officers Sent to Arrest Jesus

³² The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. ³³ Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. ³⁴ You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” ³⁵ The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? ³⁶ What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”

Rivers of Living Water

³⁷ On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” ³⁹ Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Division Among the People

⁴⁰ When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” ⁴¹ Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? ⁴² Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” ⁴³ So there was a division among the people over him. ⁴⁴ Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

⁴⁵ The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” ⁴⁶ The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” ⁴⁷ The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? ⁴⁸ Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? ⁴⁹ But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” ⁵⁰ Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, ⁵¹ “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” ⁵² They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”

 

REFLECTION

Read over this passage a few times slowly. If time allows, read the whole chapter.

Jesus’ teaching had its impact. While many remained uncertain, some “put their faith in Him”. (v31) Afraid that the Jesus movement would gain momentum, the members of the Sanhedrin sent temple guards to arrest Him. Yet the temple guards were impressed with Jesus’ teaching, they didn’t arrest Jesus (v45).

Nicodemus, the Pharisee that visited Jesus at night (v50, ch 3) had apparently became a believer, despite the overwhelming hatred of Jesus from his fellowmen. He risked his reputation and defended for Jesus. He attacked them for breaking their own rules and exposed their hypocritical motive.

How do you respond when you hear people around you (relatives or strangers) criticizing or blaspheming Jesus?

Sit quietly before the Lord. Try to imagine what Jesus encountered, vicious attack and murder threat. What feelings are stirred up in you? Talk to Jesus and listen to His response.